I'm swear I fine
by Sheila Prior
Summary: When Crutchie gets caught in the rain one night, Davey deals with the consequences the next morning. AKA, Sick!Crutchie, Caretaker!Davey.


**Okay, since there isn't enough dutchie on this site and I am clearly not going to stop with writing one shots for them, this is just going to be a whole stack of them now. If they have prompts, I will list them. Some will be short, some will be longer I will take requests**

Davey yawned as he walked into the kitchen of their small apartment. Davey and Crutchie both had skipped some grades, both being incredibly smart, and had made it to college early with Jack, who had been graduating a year early. Davey had moved out early and his parents, who had gotten much more well off after his dad got a better job, had paid for it willingly. Since he knew that Crutchie didn't have a stable foster home like Jack did, he offered to let the boy move in with him and the two had quickly started to date. He quickly got to work making breakfast for him and his boyfriend. It was one of the few rare days where neither of them had a class at the university and he fully intended to use it. was having mixed feelings about this whole situation. Just as he was finishing up a pancake, he heard the familiar creak of Crutchie's , his footstep."Mornin babe." He smiled and turned around and put a plate on the small table.

"Mmornin." The smaller boy smiled at him before sitting down with a little difficulty. Davey frowned and went over to Crutchie. Normally in the morning, his boyfriend was brighter than the sun shining through their grimy window. But this morning, he seemed sluggish and tired.

"Babe, you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'se fine, don' worry about it." The younger boy smiled weakly.

"You and I both know that worrying is what I do best." Davey chuckled, gently pressing a hand to Crutchie's forehead. He quickly drew his hand back, as though he had been burned, though it may have well been. Crutchie was warmer than an oven."Crutchie, you're burning up." Crutchie didn't answer, he only shook his head.

"No, no it's okay." He finally did speak. Davey almost told him not to as he couldn't bear to hear the sandpapery voice that came out. "So, what are we doing taday?" Davey sighed and shook his head.

"We aren't doing anything, you are going to stay home until you are better, and don't try to tell me you aren't sick because it's fairly obvious." He replied. He could see Crutchie start to frown.

"But-"

"No buts Crutchie. I don't want you to get worse. Come on now, back to bed with you, I'll make you some tea." He told his boyfriend as he helped him up. The younger boy reluctantly complied and grabbed his crutch after Davey had gotten him into a standing position. He limped back to their room and slipped into the bed with a bit of difficulty. Davey sighed as he went back to the kitchen. He put the kettle on and carried what Crutchie had left of his breakfast into the boys' room. Crutchie was already flipping through his most recent book purchase. "I still can't believe it took you 15 years to read the Percy Jackson series." Davey marveled, putting the tray beside his boyfriend. Crutchie rolled his eyes.

"It's hard ta start readin a series consistently when yer movin around from foster home ta- achoo! Foster home." He sneezed. The 16 year old made a mental note to pick up some more Kleenex boxes. They were nearly out. He chuckled.

"Still. Well, enjoy the book, I'll be back soon." He kissed the blonde boy's temple. Davey stalked back into the kitchen and waited for the kettle to boil. The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon went pretty much the same. Petty arguments, tea, and books. Davey had decided he would wait until Crutchie was in better shape to tell him about the heroes of Olympus. There was too much pain in that series for his boyfriend to handle in such a state. Especially since his fever had been rising consistently throughout the day.

Davey had definitely considered calling in a doctor, or at least Katherine. Or hell, even one of the guys. But Crutchie was terrible when it came to people helping him. He only let Davey do so because he claimed that he was cute when he worried. Davey suspected it was because the two were extremely comfortable around each other. Even still, he was getting worried. If Crutchie's fever didn't stop rising within the day, he'd call a doctor first thing in the morning.

Davey pushed that thought aside and walked into the room, where Crutchie now lay asleep. The boy was pale, aside from his flushed cheeks and forehead. Beads of sweat dotted his childlike face. His dirty blonde hair was messy and his hairline was soaked, some strands stuck to his face. To Davey, it was beautifully worrying. The large bed dwarfed his smol child of a boyfriend. He sat in the chair he'd positioned beside the bed a couple hours ago. He figured at least letting the others know that Crutchie was sick couldn't hurt, Right?

* * *

Wrong. It could hurt.

More specifically, it could hurt your ears and your mind.

"WHADDAYA MEAN SICK?!" He held the phone an arms length away from his ear and let Jack finish his spiel about the recklessness the kid was probably up to and how stubborn he was being and 'DON'T YOU DARE LET IM OUTTA YER SIGHT!' Davey loved the 17 year old art major, he really did, but sometimes he could overreact. And that was coming from king anxiety.

"Look Jack, I dunno how he caught it, maybe it was the rain yesterday." Davey supplied, running a hand through his hair.

"What rain?" He heard Jack ask.

"The big storm that was..oh right, you work in the basement of the theatre, of course you wouldn't have heard the rain. It stopped around 10:00" He explained. Jack lived with his foster mother, Medda Larkin, who owned an apartment above a theatre, as well as the theatre itself. She'd employed him painting backdrops in her basement for her shows before fostering him. She was pretty much adopting him, but the paperwork just never seemed to be ready. Davey sighed."Look, Crutchie was walking home from the bookstore since he refused to let me leave work early. I'm guessing the rain got to him. And the window was open this morning so that might have been a problem too. And before you start yelling at me, I had no idea that he would walk home until he texted me that he was at home. I figured that he'd gotten a ride with Race or Specs or someone until I saw his soaked shoes on the mat. I didn't know he'd catch a cold." Davey rambled on. Thankfully, once he calmed down, Jack was alright.

"Fine. Yer off the hook. I'll let the others-"

"Nonononononono, please no. Look, Crutchie was barely able to talk me out of calling a doctor. Or even Katherine. He would have talked me out of telling you if I'd told him I was going to. You of all people should know that he hates being doted on. He's barely letting me do anything, he just went to sleep a few minutes ago and I've finally been able to get a wet cloth on his forehead. Just, let Katherine know and I'll keep you two updated. I promise." There was a few beats of silence.

"Fine. But if things get real bad, I'm comin over." Jack said. Davey sighed in relief.

"Deal. Now go tell your girlfriend and tell her not to call. I don't wanna wake Crutchie up."

"Can do. You go take care of the kid." Jack said before hanging up, clearly about to call Katherine. Davey put his phone in his pocket and walked back to Crutchie's room. He sat back down again and dabbed at his boyfriend's forehead. Suddenly, the boy shifted underneath the cloth.

"No..nno." Crutchie mumbled."Stop it. S-stop it p-please 'll be good." He started speaking louder, thrashing a little bit. Davey recognized what was going on.

"Hun. Hey, babe, Crutchie wake up!"He gently tried to shake his boyfriend awake.

"P-please. D-don' urt im." Davey's heart broke at that. "T-take me. J-just leave im alone. He didn' do nothin." He trembled in his sleep. Suddenly, the boy screamed out, as if he were in pain. His face contorted in such a way."S-stop, please. d-don' kill me." Davey finally did the last thing he could, he pinched him. Crutchie opened his hazel eyes and they instantly filled with tears as they focused on Davey. "D-Dave?"

"Yeah, it's me. it's okay, you aren't there anymore. I'm okay, Jack's okay, everyone's fine." He gently pulled the 15 year old up and rubbed gentle circles on his back, which shook rapidly as Crutchie cried into his shoulder. Davey frowned.

For the longest time, Crutchie, as well as Jack, had been through a large foster home run by an abusive man. Snyder. It was the only alternative to Juvie, and Jack had been arrested for stealing food to save his own life as well as a few others when on the streets and had only been 8. Crutchie had gone to a protest with a lot of the other boys, Davey included, when he was 13. And was one of the few who didn't get away from the police fast enough. Snyder's abuses had been investigated a month later and the kids had been released to better homes. The rest was history. But Crutchie and Jack still had nightmares. Davey had been fortunate to never have experienced one, though through his own assumptions and Katherine's confirmation, they were just as bad as Crutchie's.

"I'm so sorry Dave, you don't deserve dis. Ya don' deserve some stupid crip like me." He mumbled into the older boy's shoulder. "I'm so stupid. I'm just some stupid kid dat don' deserve a great guy like you. Ya don' deserve ta deal with my shit. Snyder was right, it'd be better fer everyone if I'd never been born." Davey bit his lip.

"Crutchie you know that ain't true." He told him."If anything, you don't deserve me. You're so amazing, and strong, and hilarious and ridiculously hot and so smart that you made it to college at fifteen." He smiled a little."And I"m some weirdo who didn't have a single friend except my little brother until high school...and I couldn't even save you from that monster." He felt his Adams apple bob up and down.

"You did save me. You were de one who convinced Jack ta go after Snyder. He tol me everythin'. An yer real special, like, really, really smart, and you're so cute, like, like romeo when e first came, no, like a baby turtle. Yer dat level a cute." It was clear now to Davey that Crutchie was starting to act a little delirious. "An, like, yer hair, it's so soft Davey..so soft." Davey chuckled.

"Thanks Crutchie. Alright Mister, back to bed with you." He laid the boy down and dried his tears before putting the fallen cloth back on his forehead. The freckled boy smiled up at his boyfriend.

"Mm I love ya Davey." He said before falling asleep again quickly.

"I love you too Crutchie." He kissed his cheek and left the room. "Sweet dreams." He flicked off the lights.


End file.
